Finnish Place Names - New Jersey

Finns Point

A cape in Pennsville township, Salem County.

Shortly after the Swedes and Finns settled in Wilmington,
Delaware in 1638, they migrated across the Delaware River into New Jersey where they found
the area more suited to farming for those who were not interested in the trade business.
The majority of the Finns settled near the Finn's Point Lighthouse and the Swedes in the
area that had at one time been called Churchtown.

It is doubtful whether such appellations as Finns Point were ever bestowed by Finns.
Rather, such names indicating nationality tend to have been given by individuals of other
nationalities to identify certain places with the Old World background of their
predominant inhabitants.

Source: Kaups 1966, p. 387.

"Almost immediately upon the first landing of the Finnish and Swedish colonists in
1638 on the west bank of the Delaware River at the present site of Wilmington, small
groups of settlers crossed to the east bank and established farms in what is now New
Jersey. A group of settlers from Finland established themselves a short distance south of
the direct crossing, and this area remains until today known as Finns Point.
- - -
Its present church, at the intersection of the Salem-Pennsgrove Highway and the
Church-Landing Road, was selected by the New Sweden Tercentenary Commission of New Jersey
as the appropriate site for the dedication of a memorial plaque on June 30, 1938,
commemorating the pioneer settlements of this section, of which the largest was that of
Finns Point, which actually lies about four miles southwest of the church although the
name applied to the farm settlement covering a good deal of the area."

It is doubtful whether such appellations as Finns Point were ever bestowed by Finns.
Rather, such names indicating nationality tend to have been given by individuals of other
nationalities to identify certain places with the Old World background of their
predominant inhabitants.

Source: Kaups 1966, p. 387.

Township of Mullica

A township in Atlantic County on Mullica River.

Named after the Mullica family.

Mullica Hill

A populated place in Township of Harrison, Gloucester County,
about 25 miles west of Glassboro at the junction of US-322 and SH-45.

Founded by Eric Pålsson Mullica in the late 1600's. Formerly
known as Spicerville. His father was Pål Jönsson Mullica who arrived with wife and
children on the vessel Örnen in 1654, probably from Mora in Hälsingland (?), Sweden. The
family Mullica had earlier immigrated to Sweden from Finland.

Mullica Hill Pond

A reservoir in Glocester County, on the southeastern border
of Mullica Hill.

Named after Eric Pålsson Mullica, born in April 1636 in
Mora, Delsbo parish, Hälsingland, Sweden. He lived for several years at Tacony, adjoining
present Frankford Creek, Philadelphia, and later moved to Little Egg Harbor on the
Atlantic coast on a river named after him, the Mullica River.

Named after Eric Pålsson Mullica who settled about 15 miles inland at Lower Bank. His
father was Pål Jönsson Mullica who arrived with wife and children on the vessel Örnen
in 1654, probably from Mora in Hälsingland (?), Sweden. The family Mullica had earlier
immigrated to Sweden from Finland.